Naruto Chapters
by EternalVoid
Summary: This is a collection of first chapters of stories I am thinking about writing. Please read them and tell me what you think. Given up with the voting idea, so just enjoy them.
1. Chapter 1

Greetings one and all, and welcome.

For those of you who are wondering, this is not a story, but rather a collection of single chapters that are the beginnings of stories.

All are marked with either 'SMUT' or 'NON-SMUT', and I would be very much pleased if, once you had read them, if you could send me a message or review of some description, detailing which **_two_** stories you would like for me to continue with.

Please note that other stories first chapters may be added to the growing list as the weeks go by, so please keep an eye out.

Please enjoy them...


	2. Chapter 2

This is NON-SMUT for those wondering...

A Thousand Suns

_Will we burn inside the fires of a thousand suns, for the sins of our hand, the sins of our tongue, the sins of our father, the sins of our young..._

Prologue

He walked down the thin stone passageway, lined with pillars covered in minerals from age. The air smelt musky and old, of death and decay.

There were no sounds save for his shuffling footsteps and laboured breathing, the drops of crimson from the wounds on his face, arms, legs and chest barely heard as they hit against the cold stone surface of a place untouched by man for millennia, they each glinted red for brief fleeting moments until they struck the unforgiving surface, shining in the faint torch light.

Eventually he stepped out of the long, narrow corridor into a wide open cavern. The entire area glittered as light from a single torch was reflected a thousand times in the strange, obsidian black crystals that coated the walls. Before him lay a stone pedestal upon which sat a beautiful crystal chalice, glittering softly in the light, a strange contrast to the night black crystals that surrounded him. He moved forwards slowly, looking around the strange room, seeing faces and bodies in the crystal, as if it had consumed and transformed the dead that had fallen here into part of itself.

Eventually he stood before the chalice, in it sat a liquid, but strange indeed, as it reflected no light, indeed it seemed to be devoid of anything

'_Drink it'_ said a voice, cold and distant, scraping along the surface of his mind. He reached out with shaking hands, part of his mind telling him to stop, that something was wrong here, even as the many crystal faces, preserved forever in this dark tomb, seemed to watch him with their empty eye sockets.

He lifted the chalice gently, a pure tone filled the air as he lifted it from its place, the tone reflected and enhanced a thousand times as the crystals on the wall seemed to sing in harmonious chorus as if to celebrate this moment. He sniffed the liquid, it smelt of nothing. The only thing he could smell, was the scent of decay, age, and death that filled this place.

He lifted it slowly to his lips and drank, a biting, hideous cold seemed to burn his mouth and throat and fill his very body. The strange night liquid held no taste, no scent, and no texture of its own. He suddenly stiffened as pain racked him, the chalice falling from his hands as he himself fell to his knees, the pain unbearable in all respects.

The chalice shattered on the cold, hard, unforgiving ground, and the sound of a thousand bells seemed to fill the once silent cavern, a cacophony of noise consuming the once dead silent chamber. It was the last thing he heard as he tipped over, head striking the ground softly. The seemingly thousands of brilliant shards of the once whole crystal chalice fell like small stars, glittering softly in the pale light of the single torch, that, was the last thing he saw, the one shard striking the ground and shattering into a thousand more, brilliant, sparkling, pieces.

He awoke out in the open air, light blinding him for a few brief moments as he opened his eyes. He shut them again before taking a deep breath of the clean, fresh air that dominated the forests around Konoha before his eyes snapped out once more, hands darting over his body as he tried to locate the wounds that no longer appeared to be present.

He slumped back onto the cool grass and sighed, allowing the wind to softly caress him for a few moments longer before struggling to stand.

He had staggered, dragging himself out of that dark cave, clutching a tattered and worn old book in his hands, he remembered slipping and falling a good ways down a smooth slope. And now, looking up, it curved away from him gently, the ledge far above his head covered in mosses and a few scattered trees. He sighed and turned away, leaning down, still confused and unsure he picked up the book he had stumbled out with, he looked at it more closely now, stroking the leather that protected it from time and decay. There was something special about this book, he could feel it in his gut, and his gut feeling was always right about such things.

He looked away from the book and into the forest, trying to gauge his position relative to Konoha itself, the trees here were fairly widely spaced, more so that the forest where he had made his home. He frowned, guessing he was maybe two miles or so out. What fun, he thought to himself, how easy it is to run so fast when fear is all that drives you. With that dark thought at the forefront of his mind he began the walk back, forgoing his usual method of jumping in favour of relaxation. The book still clutched tightly in his hand as he walked off into the light of the forest.

The light was warm, despite the shade provided by the trees and the slow setting of the sun, it cast long, drawn out shadows on the ground was he walked. The air was cooling now, losing its warmth despite the suns warming rays and soon darkness would descend on the great forest once more.

He arrived at his home with a sigh, it was little more that a cave underneath a great tree's roots, it was listing to one side, providing the perfect shelter during the rain and cold nights that so often accompanied Konoha's beautiful days.

He walked inside, crouching slightly before straightening up once inside. It was a simple affair to be sure, a futon sat in one corner of the room by which sat a pile of scrolls, filled with information and knowledge that he was slowly reading his way through. In the centre sat an indented place in the ground surrounded by stones where a small fire sat, slowly dying as it burned itself out, and casting a flickering light over the rest of the cave, making the shadows dance.

Naruto groaned as he moved over to the fire, piling some more logs onto it he basked in its warmth for a few moments. Reached down he pulled the book up and opened it before beginning to read.

Chapter One

The sun was high in the sky, casting short shadows that offered little shade from the heat of its rays, and as a consequence there were few people wandering the dry, dusty streets of Konoha. The wind caught the dust, bringing it into swirling vortexes of wind, dust and little else. The air was bone dry and no relief from the heat seemed to be forthcoming, the sky was a piercing azure blue with not a cloud blemishing its seemingly smooth surface.

Gently warming light flowed in through the windows of the shop as a soft breeze flowed in through the open door. The light seemed to reflect throughout the small shop, the wood seeming to glow warmly with its own internal light, illuminating the entire room in a soft radiance. Kakashi and Anko were sitting around one of four tables situated beside the large windows, Kakashi was watching the world go slowly on by while Anko stuffed herself full of her favourite food as the waitress, a pretty little thing with brown hair and a soft manner, collected Anko's _third _order and brought it over, placing it on the dull mahogany table, bowing to the two ninja's before walking off to go deal with another order.

"I can't believe you're going to have to teach the Uchiha bastard" Anko said to Kakashi while swiftly finishing off another stick of dango

"Tell me about it" the other woman replied, head in her hands.

It was general practise for certain jonin's to, at least once in their career, take on a team of three newly graduated ninjas and train them up to be the next generation of fighters for Konoha. However many jonin's loathed this duty, mainly because they had to deal usually with snot-nosed brats who knew little about what it actually took to be a ninja, as such many avoided it like some sort of plague and even went so far as to go into Anbu in order to avoid it and the problems it usually brought upon them.

This in itself was unusual for a hidden village. Many other villages held no such idealism in their ranks, and the understanding that a ninja's path is one soaked in blood was drilled into the kids from day one. Unlike Konoha who had the unfortunate habit of coddling them until their time came, it is probably a surprise, therefore, that Konoha is the strongest of the five major powers in the world. Though some would sooner claim that it was out of luck than anything else, it is after all, easier to be lucky than good.

Oh, how the mighty have fallen, Kakashi thought to herself as she looked over at her long time friend. Anko was wearing her usual fishnet shirt and dark trench coat, her leather skirt held up by a belt of the same dark brown as the coat. Kakashi watched Anko devour another stick of dango, her dark brown eyes closing in pleasure as she ate, Kakashi just sighed and thumped her head on the table once again

"Fucking politicians" she groaned, Anko just swallowed her food before grinning at Kakashi

"Aww, don't worry Kakashi-chan, I'm sure it won't be _too_ bad" she said sarcastically, patting Kakashi on her shoulder. Kakashi just glared at her through her one eye, Anko's grin just grew as she leaned back away from Kakashi before the other women decided to kill her

"What did I do to deserve this?" Kakashi asked, sounding despondent as Anko just continued to grin at her friends' misfortune.

The tightly packed buildings towered over him as he moved through the dusty and windswept streets of Konoha, taking solace in the empty streets, the shadows of the buildings neatly tucked under each other. The silence would have been deafening to all but him. He could, after all, hear the conversations whispered on the breeze.

How naive, he thought to himself, to believe that all there will ever be is peace here.

He strode down the empty streets with purpose in his step; he knew he should have been at the academy today, just as he should be every other day he had missed. But such things seemed irrelevant to him nowadays, especially the academy.

That was when he walked pasted the shop where Anko and Kakashi sat talking, he did not bother to look inside as usual.

"Look Kakashi-chan" Anko said to Kakashi suddenly, breaking into the woman's own thoughts

"Hmm..." she groaned, pulling her head up and looking out of the window. Watching as one Uzumaki Naruto walked past the window, blonde hair blowing back in the breeze, his azure eyes fixed firmly forwards. Kakashi's eyes followed him until she lost sight of him as he turned down another street

"He's not too bad" Anko said to Kakashi who groaned

"Yeah..." she said, trailing off, putting her head in her arms "but even if I get him that won't make up for the other two imbeciles" she said and Anko laughed heartily before poking Kakashi in the head, making said woman look up at her

"Haven't you got to get to the briefing soon?" she asked with a bit of mirth, laughing as Kakashi just groaned again.

The clearing was like many others situated both inside and out of Konoha. The grass felt cool underneath his bare feet and he found himself sighing in both relief and satisfaction of having finally finding a empty place to begin. Small flowers bloomed everywhere he looked, a truly beautiful scene with a multitude of colours and tones that would have been a painter's idea of a beautifully serene scene. However even the plants themselves look tired and ragged, this intense heat that had prevailed for the last week or so causing the plants to seemingly wilt under the harsh gaze of the sun.

Trees surrounded the flowering field, great oaks and birches, stood strong despite the heat, their leaves blending together into a collage of many shades of green. Naruto sighed, taking a deep breath in of the fresh air, it smelt clean, pure and of the many flowers now blossoming around him.

Time to get started, he thought to himself, somewhat apprehensively. He sighed, taking slow, deep breaths as he concentrated on the energy sitting deep, deep within him; beyond his chakra system and deeper still until he grasped its biting coldness and opened his eyes. Where they had once been a cold, focused azure blue now they were night black, however unlike that pitch black liquid all those years ago, they reflected the light and life around him.

He held both hands out, the metal plates on the back of the black fingerless gloves glinting in the strong sunlight as he focused. His thoughts focused on the task that lay before him and slowly he began to push the power outwards to an imaginary point in front of him.

At first nothing happened. But slowly the wind began to grow stronger and stronger around him, rustling the many leaves of the trees and sending the grass swaying as petals from the many flowers around him were pulled away and drawn up and around in the air, surrounding him in a glorious display of colours and splendour.

Then suddenly a solid black dot seemed to appear in midair, hanging their as if held by some invisible hand. And slowly it began to grow, slowly at first but soon it expanding exponentially, like some great pitch black balloon it expanded to the height of a normal human being before stopping.

It was a perfect black circle, Naruto peered around it and his eyes widened. Looking on directly from the side it was a simple line. The object in front of him was perfectly 2-d and flat as if it sat against some invisible barrier. It seemed to however an inch or two above the ground like a great hole cut into the fabric of reality itself. Naruto stepped back, getting his breathing back under control as something began to happen.

A hand, made only of bone, reached through the great hole. It seemed to struggle, grabbing onto the 'doorway' as if something else was trying to tug it back into wherever it was arriving from. Then slowly, very slowly, as if the rest of its body was moving through viscous tar, it began to pull itself through. The head eventually poked through, it seemed to grunt as it finally stepped fully out of the portal and stood in front of Naruto.

It was truly a sight to behold. The thing that stepped out of the black hole in space looked like a larger than life man who had had all of his mortal flesh stripped from his bare bones. It stood at about eight feet tall, its empty eye sockets seemed to look through Naruto and he had to suppress a shiver at that chilling thought. It was covered in some kind of old rusty metal armour, and even the sword at its side looked rusted beyond use. Great bony spikes rose from its shoulder blades, elbows, and heels of its feet, the ones on its chest looked as if they had been driven in. Naruto also had a suspicion that claws like sharp steel were hidden in the gauntlets, the sight of them poking through the holes in the tips of its gauntlets made him shiver. It looked more human than Naruto had originally expected, though now he was thinking that maybe, just maybe, it was around half way between a transformation between class one and two.

The great skeleton slowly looked around; at least, it moved its head slowly from side to side before settling its 'gaze' back on Naruto who stood there, watching it with a look that almost seemed to be a mild form of respect

"Mortal" it said, its voice raspy and almost monotone, it spoke in a virtual whisper so Naruto had to strain his ears to hear it over the breeze that was only just settling down. However the great doorway seemed to be trying to pull the air towards it, petals would move towards it only to dance around it and then be blown back out.

The creature seemed to incline its head slightly and Naruto got the feeling that if it had flesh on its face then it would be narrowing its eyes and frowning slightly in thought

"Yes, the darkness dwells within you" it finally said in that soft monotone, lifting its head "your name mortal" it said, Naruto bowed slightly to it

"Naruto" he said, raising himself once more as the creature seemed to think for a moment

"Hmm, very well...Naruto...you are the first true summoner in over a millennia in this world" it said and Naruto inclined his head once more

"I am aware of this" he said before locking 'eyes' with the creature in front of him "I shall presume that a partial level two demon would understand why I summoned it, especially one who can articulate as well as yourself" he said and the creatures head moved back in what, Naruto thought, appeared to be slight shock

"Oh, so you know of the classes' system mortal" it said, looking at Naruto again "very good, you did not do this lightly, that much is obvious. However I am afraid I cannot do what you wish" it said and Naruto raised an eyebrow in question

"If I were to do that now then I believe you would cease to be" the creature explained, Naruto frowned but nodded

"Very well, then I shall let you go" Naruto said, spreading his hands in front of him, the creature inclined its head once and then turned to leave

"I shall inform the higher ones of this development, mainly for fear of my continued existence" the thing said, putting one hand through the hole it turned once more to 'look' at Naruto "good luck, Naruto" was all it said before stepping back through the portal that seemed to crack before shattering like glass into a thousand splinters and shards that evaporated and vanished into thin air.

The sky was beginning to slowly darken. The uppermost most part was slowing turning a deep, oceanic blue while nearer the horizon; the light slowly turned lighter blue until it was almost green before changing into light oranges and gentle reds. The few clouds that hovered in the slowly darkening night sky were lit on one side of themselves, slants of light seeming to pass through the clouds as they stood still in the windless skies, promising no hope of rain.

The Hokage tower stood in the centre of the village, and at six stories tall it easily towered over all other buildings in the town. The outside of the tower was painted gentle beige that tried not to reflect the light, and on the side that faced away from the great Hokage Mountain, where the faces of the last Hokage's gazed down over the village, sat a great painted emblem, the Kanji for fire.

Inside the tower, nearer the top of the great structure, was the Hokage's office. Light dyed a reddish orange poured in through the massive window that consumed most of the far wall. It illuminated the great oak desk that sat nearly in front of it and the many piles of paper that sat upon it. The desk, despite its many scratches and dents and many other signs of age, had nonetheless been present in this room ever since the first Hokage had taken up office here.

The dark green floor coupled with the beige walls provided little illumination from the dimming orange light casting the room the furthest part of the room, nearer the door, in darkness as the elongated shadows from the desk and windows reached over to it as if seeking to escape.

It was in here, near the top of the great building, that Kakashi was now in. She was leaning against the wall looking out of the great window behind the Hokage's desk, out of which she could see the village and the brightly coloured sky that was slowly bleeding of light as the sun dipped behind the great forest that surround Konoha, shrouding the forest in light and blurring it against the sky around the sun.

The room was full of other jonin's, all talking amongst themselves about the teams and possible students they were looking forward, or not, to getting a hold of

"So Kakashi-san" Asuma said as he walked over to her "I hear your getting the Uchiha on your team" he said, blowing out a cloud of smoke as he did so. Kakashi wrinkled her nose at the disgusting odour of the thing before frowning

"Yeah, sodding council wants me to teach him, mainly because I'm the only last loyal ninja of Konoha with a sharingan eye and the knowledge of how to use it" she explained, not bothering to hide her distaste of the boy, the lower ninjas may treat him like some sort of god but Kakashi and the other older ninjas knew better

"Yeah" Asuma said almost absentmindedly "I don't envy you that job" he said with a small grin and she growled lowly at him

"Well gee, thanks for the vote of confidence" she said, he just grinned and walked away, leaving Kakashi there shaking her head and looking none too pleased.

Eventually the Hokage arrived, walking through the door each jonin immediately stood at attention before him as he sat behind the oak desk with a heavy sigh. His slightly wrinkled face seemed to relax as he sat down, though some tension could still be seen in his body by the older ninja. They waited patiently as he filled his pipe with tobacco before lighting it and taking a slow, deep breath of the stuff. Breathing it out just as slowly before his still sharp dark brown eyes opened, looking over each of them carefully, making some of the newer jonin's fidget uncomfortably at the piercing gaze

"You may be at ease" he said at length and they all relaxed as one, moving back to their original positions as the Hokage took out a stack of papers. Kakashi took a moment to look Sarutobi over, he still had his short grey goatee and short spiky hair, and the three lines running down under each eye, which seemed to be extremely focused at the moment, as if a smouldering fire sat behind them, waiting to be lit once more.

"Okay then" he said, leaning forwards, hands folded in front of him as he looked over each of them "who would like to begin?" he asked, Asuma sighed and stepped forwards

"I would like to take on a team comprised of Ino, Shikamaru and Choji" he said and the Hokage nodded slowly

"Hmm, very well, the council should be happy as well" he said, muttering the last part under his breath, Kakashi still heard him though. She watched as Asuma turned stepped back to be replaced by Kurenai, winking at Kurenai who rolled her eyes in exasperation at him, standing at attention in front of the leader.

"I would like to lead a team composed of Hinata, Kiba and Shino" she said, the Hokage thought for a few moments before nodding. Kakashi knew what he would be doing now, he would be looking through it all in his mind now, examining the team dynamics and anticipating if any major problems would arise, including any dissatisfaction from the council.

"Very well" he said, she nodded, turned away and stepped back

"Kakashi-san?" the Hokage asked her and she sighed before stepping up in front of him

"I will take on Uchiha Sasuke, Sakura...and Uzumaki Naruto" she said, some whispers broke out among those jonin not taking on teams but were silenced by the Hokage's glance to them

"Very well, but you realise the council will not like the idea of Uzumaki-san being with the Uchiha" he told her, she frowned, but was sure the Hokage could see the light of defiance behind her eyes. Knowing she was the last sharingan user in Konoha meant that she was given a good amount of leeway with regards to these sorts of things.

"With all due respect sir, I don't think there's much they can do about it" she said stiffly, the Hokage just smiled

"Very well then, dismissed!" he said loudly, the jonin's disappearing from the office in the blink of an eye.

Naruto was walking back from the forest clearing, frowning slightly to himself about what the creature had said. The wind caressed his bare chest as his jacket flared open for a few moments before settling down again as the breeze passed him.

"Hey, Naruto-kun!" he heard someone call out, he turned around to see Anko leaning out of a shops doorway, waving at him

"What is it Anko-chan?" he asked as he walked over to her, ignoring the mutterings and supposed muted whispers of the general public

"Come in here" she said, grabbing him by the collar of his mesh shirt and dragging him inside with no small amount of force. Naruto did not bother to struggle, simply allowing her to pull him inside the shop and force him to sit beside her, Kakashi just sat there looking slightly amused at the whole thing.

"Good afternoon Naruto-kun" Kakashi greeted him, as Anko pushed him roughly into the seat beside hers before taking her seat beside him, grinning at him like a mischievous child with her eyes closed. Naruto just rolled his eyes despite the small smile on his face and faced Kakashi instead

"Hmm...if you say so" he responded, sounding quite bland, Kakashi just chuckled at his response and looked back out of the window

"So Anko-chan" he said, making Anko face him, a stick of dango hanging out of her mouth as she looked at him

"Hmm?" she asked, almost looking too innocent

"Why'd you drag me in here?" he asked her as she swallowed her food and took the stick out of her mouth before shrugging

"For the hell of it" she said, Naruto just sighed and looked towards Kakashi who was snickering as him

"Oh yeah" she suddenly said "you'll be on my team starting tomorrow, Naru-kun" she said, Naruto groaned and smacked his head on the table

"Fucking hell" he muttered. Kakashi raised an eyebrow at his response though a flash of hurt passed behind her eyes "bloody Uchiha" he continued and Kakashi almost seemed to sigh in response a reaction Anko did not miss. She grinned at her; Kakashi gave her a light glare back in warning.

"Tough luck Naru-kun" Anko chirped while smiling brightly at him, he glared at her half-heartedly, swiping one of her dango sticks and eating it before she could make a move to stop him

"Oi~!" she whined, Naruto smirked at her

"Tough luck Anko-chan" he said, mimicking her in a whiny tone of voice. Anko frowned and pouted like a little kid, making both Kakashi and Naruto chuckle at her.

The air was cold this early in the morning as Naruto strode down the road towards the ninja academy. Dawn was just starting to break and the sky above him was lit up with brilliant oranges and light reds as rays of light slanted down through the sapphire sky. The faintest stars in the sky had long since been submerged in the slowly brightening vault and barely a handful still twinkled high in the dark sky above. The few large clouds that were beginning to form shone from within as the light forced its way through them, setting the edges of the clouds alight as the sun slowly rose up from the horizon.

Naruto looked down the slowly brightening street. The sunlight casting long shadows from building to building in front of him. The silence of the early morning air was broken only by the birds that had begun to sing not more than twenty minutes ago, their sweet songs brought to him by the soft breeze that swept gently down the empty street, and caressed his face and chest with a tender coolness that made him smile.

The academy sat near the Hokage tower, it was a rectangular building three stories tall and built of sandy coloured bricks that softly glowed in the early morning light. The windows glinted in the light, their reflections illuminating patches of the sandy ground as the wind seemed to pick some of the dust and sand up and twirl it around playfully before putting it down and moving on to another patch of ground.

The roof of the building was where Naruto was heading for now though. Lined with a dull metal railing it was perfectly flat the whole way across save for two access points on the roof itself. Every so often a bench was placed next to the railing, facing away from the sun.

To the side away from the Hokage tower sat a mass of trees like those that already surrounded Konoha. That was where the weapons training and other such things took place. Often Naruto had traversed that area after school and found a wealth of perfectly good weaponry simply left behind by those who could easily afford to replace such things by the next day or so.

Eventually Naruto made his way up to the roof where he leant against the railing and looked outwards over the town and watched the sun rise. Letting the wind blow his dull blonde hair back he sighed gently and closed his eyes, his thoughts slowing and settling down until he was relaxed once again, his thoughts seeming to blow away in the soft breeze that stirred the trees around the academy grounds and sent a few birds flapping up into the cool air where they twirled and danced like shadowed silhouettes against the bright sun before diving back into the forest canopy.

How peaceful, Naruto thought to himself as he stood there, and oh how so very fragile it all is. His thoughts took a turn to something slightly darker but he brought himself out and back to simply enjoying the view before all the stupidity began once again.

It was noisy, Naruto decided, far too noisy.

He was sitting in his usual classroom with classmates he had attended the last year of academy with, all of whom were chatting energetically with each other. All present were happy at having passed their exams and been selected for a team.

"...is the best, I knew he'd pass!" came Sakura's voice, floating above the rest

"No, I did!" shouted her rival Ino

"Be quite you two, I'm trying to sleep here" Shikamaru muttered lazily, thankful that neither of the two girls had heard him over the din of the classroom

"Good luck getting those two to be quite, especially over the Uchiha" Kiba said then muttered under his breath, also fearful of the girl's wrath

"It would not be wise to antagonise them, Kiba-san" Shino said from behind his coats high collar in his usual monotonous voice

"Hmm" Choji agreed amongst the chomping of chips

"But I was here first" Sakura shouted

"No I was"

"Here we go again-"

"But I-"

"No I was-"

"...bloody annoying-"

"I'm telling you Shino, she had the-"

Naruto realised he had slipped into one of those sorts of trances he was used too when in class. He often found, looking back, that he could remember everything that was said and by whom, however usually struggled to place it in context...

"Alright class!" boomed Iruka as he walked in, he had short black hair that covered his ears and a long scar that ran over the bridge of his nose and across part of either side of his face. His skin was lightly tanned from the intense sun, like so many Konoha citizens. He wore the standard Konoha Chunin uniform, consisting of a black shirt and trousers along with a headband and a loose leaf green jacket with the fire symbol sewn onto the back in red. The chattering stopped almost instantly as everyone eagerly awaited their sensei's

"Now" Iruka said as he placed a load of papers down onto the desk before looking at them all

"I am glad to of taught each of you" he said, smiling slightly "and I pray you all stay safe for the rest of your time in your ninja career, your team sensei's will be here to pick you all up shortly, but before that I shall read out the teams" he said as he picked up one of the sheets.

Naruto resumed looking out of the window. People scurried up and down the street that led up to the academy. What a fool, Naruto though solemnly to himself, to believe that a ninja's life is built of anything but hardship and pain. He was aware that Iruka knew otherwise, but chose not to dwell on it.

"Okay then" Iruka called out, snapping Naruto's attention back to the classroom "These are the teams..." Naruto zoned out once again, preferring to dwell on his own torrent of thoughts than whose team he was to be on, of course though, he was already aware of whose team he was on thanks to Kakashi.

"...team seven shall be composed of Haruno Sakura, Uchiha Sasuke and Uzumaki Naruto-" Iruka was cut off by Sakura jumping out of her seat and pointing a manicured finger at Ino

"Ha!" she shouted "true love conquers all!" she shouted. Iruka coughed and glared at her, she sat down meekly, though still looking quite happy at the news

"Your sensei will be Kakashi-san" he finished his sentence and the list off before looking at them all "once again I wish you good luck" he said, inclining his head to them before walking out of the room as their sensei's began to walk into the room.

First to enter was Asuma, a cigarette hanging loosely from his mouth as he surveyed the teams present with almost warm brown eyes. He wore a standard Konoha ninja uniform with a flak jacket and regular shinobi sandals.

"Team ten with me!" he shouted out and out came Ino, Shikamaru and Choji whom he smiled at before leading them out of the room, next up was Kurenai

Kurenai had long flowing black hair and ruby red eyes that seemed to look right through you if you stared for too long; they were only made more prominent by the purple eyeliner that surrounded them. She was wearing mesh armour and a red blouse which only had the right sleeve still attached; around both hands were wrapped bandages.

"Damn..." Kiba said, or rather was all he was able to say, before Naruto pulled his chair back with his foot, causing Kiba to land flat on his ass much to the amusement of the whole class, Kurenai, and his own dog Akamaru

"Damn it Naruto" he hissed as he stood up while trying to look as threatening as possible, Naruto just looked at him with bored eyes

"Alright that's enough" Kurenai said, clapping her hands to get everyone's attention back to the front of the room

"Team eight with me!" and with that Hinata and Shino stood up, making their way out of the room with their sensei, Kiba trailing after, muttering something and shooting Naruto dark glances. No one noticed the look of appreciation Kurenai had sent Naruto just as she left the room.

Finally in walked Kakashi. She hand spiky silver hair and an eye patch covering her left eye, upon it was a silver swirl and the symbol of fire. She had mesh armour on with a sleeveless black jacket covering it, and over each arm were long leather gloves with metal plated on the back of the hands and forearms. Her toned muscles could easily be seen and despite her lazy demur the sight easily radiated power from her

"Team seven follow me to the roof" she said before vanishing in a swirl of leaves.

"So then" Kakashi said as she observed her three 'charges' "how about we all introduce ourselves?" she asked them, trying to sound enthusiastic and failing rather miserably.

Naruto was leaning up against the dull metal railing that ran around the entire roofs edge which glinted in the light of the late morning sun. Having risen fully now it had finally chased away what few stars had been left and the day was rapidly warming up now

The other two members of team seven were sitting on the bench next to where Naruto was standing, with Sasuke trying to sit as far away as possible from Sakura who was looking at him with a look of extreme adoration.

Kakashi took another look at Naruto out of the corner of her one eye, watching as his blonde hair waved fractionally in the soft breeze that had sprung up a little while back. He was looking over Konoha though he was not really seeing it, per se; he would be lost in his own thoughts, as he was so often these days.

"You go first Kakashi-chan" he said out of thin air when it became clear the other members of the team were not going to add anything sensible or otherwise to the conversation that Kakashi was trying to initiate. She sighed

"Fine then, my name is Hatake Kakashi" she said, sounding as bored as she looked as Naruto smirked though they couldn't see "my likes are none of business, and neither are my dislikes, my dream...is also none of your business" she said, smiling at them underneath the face mask. Sasuke looked slightly twitchy by now and Sakura was looking at Kakashi with her mouth open. Naruto just continued to look out over the town

"Go on then pinky" she then said, pointing at Sakura who balked at the insult for a second before speaking

"Fine, my name is Haruno Sakura and I like..." she looked at Sasuke dreamily who was watching her out of the corner of his eye as he backed away slightly "I dislike..." she shot a look at Naruto, not noticing Kakashi's faint frown at that even as Naruto seemed apathetic "my dream is..." once again she looked at Sasuke before giggling like a stereotypical schoolgirl and blushing slightly. Kakashi wanted to smack her head against the wall and was thankful for the mask as it hid her slightly open mouth, so shocked at the girl that she was.

"...okay" she said slowly, turning to Sasuke "dark one, go" she said. Sasuke scoffed but did as he was told

"Fine, my name is Uchiha Sasuke" he said, sounding slightly arrogant at just his name and Kakashi didn't miss Naruto's slight shift at that "I have few likes" he said, eye's darkening "and many dislikes, and I have no dreams, only an ambition...to kill a certain man" he said. Sakura seemed to think he was even more 'cool' now if the look in her eyes was anything to go by while Naruto scoffed softly at the whole thing.

Overdramatic much, Kakashi thought to herself as she turned to the last of their little group

"My name is Uzumaki Naruto" Naruto said before she could even open her mouth "I like Kakashi, Anko and Kurenai, and perhaps training" he said while never moving, always looking out over Konoha "I have quite a few dislikes, which I don't feel the need to tell you" he said, and Kakashi watched as his posture seemed to tense slightly "I have few dreams, some grander than others..." he seemed to trail off, the air growing chilly all of a sudden "but you don't need to know that either" he finished.

Kakashi sighed and closed her eyes. It was not the first time she had seen Naruto in such a state, it happened often now whenever he thought about the past or the future he seemed to envision. Kakashi wasn't overly concerned, everyone in their little group had their problems, hell, the vast majority of older ninja all had some sort of habit or problem connected to their past

"Alright then people" she said, clapping her hands to get their attention, though she doubted Naruto's had waned even for a moment "we will be meeting tomorrow at training ground eight, at seven sharp, don't be late" she said before disappearing. Naruto groaned as he straightened up before he too, vanished in a swirl of leaves.

_**The End**_


	3. Chapter 4

NON-SMUT...

Please note this one may be altered later on, as it is quite short for my tastes...

Naruto Overlord Idea

Prologue

_Evil is just a point of view ~ Anne Rice_

The sky was pitch black, so clouded over and covered that not even the light of the full moon pierced its darkness. A sudden flash of lightning, followed briefly by rolling thunder, illuminated the underside of the clouds, briefly forming an inverted landscape and revealing the destruction below.

Smoke and dust choked the air making it hard to breath and even harder to see. The thick black smoke billowed from a burning apartment block, reaching up high into the cloudy night sky as if wishing to become part of the solid black mass above itself. The screams of civilians and emergency staff alike echoed around the streets as they all scurried around before they were lost in the echo of another flash of lightning and roll of thunder. When the flash had faded, all it left was a memory in the eye, and the flickering flames of the burning apartment.

In a narrow alley next to the burning building he struggled to breathe; the fresh blood slowly flowing from his battered form glinted and flashed in the light from his burning apartment and the lightning overhead. The heat washing over him from the flames of the building barely registered except for soft waves of warmth characterised by flashes of light and a dull thud, like a cannon far off in the distance.

Even pain was a foreign concept to him now, his senses so dulled by blood loss as they were, and even thought was a struggle. He could barely hear anything from having been so close to the blast that had occurred in his own apartment block. He chuckled gently, causing blood to trickle down his chin, as he thought about the looks on the faces of all those people as he'd set off the explosives.

Instantly the entire apartment complex, all four floors and nineteen rooms, most still with furniture and fabric in, had been engulfed in flames. He had survived by jumping out of a second floor window. He chuckled mirthlessly again as he thought about that.

However, in a brief lull of noise, where silence finally took hold of the air, save for the crackling of the fire, he found that he could hear tapping, soft and rhythmic. He cracked open his eyes despite his weakened body and looked in front of him. Before him stood a creature he had never seen before nor seen fit to imagine. It was hunched over and was about three feet tall as it was. Its skin was coloured a dark brown, like tanned leather, only it looked like it'd been left there for too long, it's skin wrinkly like some sort of chestnut.

It moved forwards slowly but steadily, with a slight limp aided by the walking stick until eventually is stood before Naruto. It's sharp eyes bored into Naruto's own blue ones that, despite him already knocking on deaths door, stared back with equal intensity. A long silence permeated the ash filled air, punctuated only by the distant thud of more explosions and the faint screaming of emergency staff. Eventually the aged creature moved back slightly

"Very well" it said as if agreeing with a voice only it could hear. It then proceeded to bow, as well as it could, to Naruto who was too tired to even blink in response "greetings, master" it said before making a motion to other creatures in the dark background. Naruto was left only with the sense of being lifted into the air before he finally passed out.

Chapter One

Far away from Konoha, though still lying in the boarders of Fire country, sat a ruined tower. Its walls, which once gleamed and pulsed with energy, were now engulfed by vines and moss, as the earth tried to reclaim what rightfully belonged to it. Holes in the walls and the erosion on the surface spoke of its age. What had once been a great citadel and the place of many people's nightmares, and some people's dreams, was now simply an eroded monument to that time, like a great tombstone.

It was here, in the upper part of the great structure that Naruto awoke to strange sensations; the comfort of whatever he was sleeping on, the scent of stone and the chilliness of the air, as well as the high pitched clambering coming from outside wherever he was.

He awoke suddenly, eyes snapping open as he sat up sharply. He looked around the room, his mind running a mile a minute as it desperately attempted to recall what had happened to lead him here. The room around was Spartan to say the least, I was stone all around, walls, floor and ceiling all comprised of some sort of dark stone. The only noticeable pieces of furniture in the relatively large room were the bed he was on; despite the fact it was a single size, and a large wardrobe made of a dark wood. Other than that though, the room was stark bare and felt empty, as if the insides had been ripped out .

Naruto looked down at himself as if suddenly realising something and found that he was no longer wearing that hideous orange jumpsuit he had had all his life with the spiral sewn onto the back. Instead he was without a shirt and only had some, rather comfortable, pyjama bottoms on that he suspected were made of very fine cotton, they were clean, though slightly worn. He frowned to himself as the situation only seemed to grow stranger.

He stepped out of the bed, wincing at the pain that shot through his body despite the lack of wounds on his body. The cold floor barely registered to his mind as he walked over the wardrobe to the side of the bed. He opened its carved doors and was slightly surprised at the fact the hinges didn't squeak at all.

He looked inside and raised an eyebrow in slight surprise, inside hung some sort of armour that had never seen before, it was built of what seemed to be tanned leather. He ignored the strangeness of the situation once again and proceeded to place the armour on his person, but before placing the underlay shirt on he stopped, noticing a mirror on the inside of the wardrobes door. He turned to it and looked at himself.

The years of living on the streets had not left him starving, despite what might be expected, instead the years of running, hiding and other such activities, including some training regimes had left him with a slim but athletic build, built for speed more than anything. He lifted his hand up slowly to trace a few scars on his chest, his eyes darkening as his mind went back.

He quickly brought himself out of it however, and proceeded to change into the clothes he had apparently been left with. So far he was quite confused, whoever or whatever had brought him here didn't want him dead, that much was for certain; otherwise they wouldn't of wasted time healing him. On top of that they had left him armour and a sword that had most likely been swiped from one of the Chunin's that had died that night. He decided not to worry too much and instead walk out of the room and see what exactly was going on outside that was causing such noise.

He walked out onto what looked like some kind of half finished construction site. Wooden beams and scaffolding were everywhere he looked, half of it was at an angle and none of it looked safe to use. The room, was vast and had sizeable holes in its walls, the roof looked only half finished and pieces of rubble lay everywhere.

The entire room was open to the elements, and evidently it had rained the night before, as puddles of water now sat all around the...hall, for now that he took a closer look at things he could see that the area was quite large, easily 9 metres both ways and with a couple of doors leading to, he supposed, other rooms. The stone was the same dark colour as the ones that made up the room he had just walked out of. The roof was vaulted high above him, though the supporting pillars were no longer there, only holes in the floor where they once sat were left. He could smell the scent of age this place held, despite the fresh smell of the newly fallen rain.

He was brought out of his musings when he heard the soft tapping of a walking stick against the stone. He turned to face the strange creature he had met a few nights ago as it walked up to him. Naruto found his hand automatically resting on the hilt of the sword at his waist, while he might of only had the most basic training in how to wield a blade he still felt calmed by its presence under his calloused hand

"Greetings Master" the thing said, inclining its head towards Naruto. He raised an eyebrow slowly in a questioning manner. "I am certain that you have many questions regarding this situation, please, follow me down" it said, motioning for Naruto to follow it as it made for some stairs on one side of the room.

Naruto followed it cautiously but curiously, looking around him all the while. The staircase was wide enough for one person to stand in comfortably and was, as was everything else in this place, built of some dark stone that didn't even look worn.

Eventually they stepped out of a bolted door into a great hall. The entire room looked like a hurricane had come through it, holes in the walls that obviously hadn't been formed naturally, scorch marks on the ground and great gorges in the stone were easy to see. As with the room above the supporting pillars were gone, scattered around, the statues that had perhaps lined the sides of the great hall were missing, only pieces of limbs were left lying on the floor.

Scaffolding was also everywhere, only this time Naruto could see small brown creatures scampering around the place.

"Please, this way" the creature spoke to him again, motioning for him to sit on what could only be a throne which, despite obvious damage, was the most intact thing in the hall, save for maybe the floor and walls. The creature stood in front of him and began speaking

"My name is Gnarl, master, head of the brown minion hive and servant to the last overlord" it said, bowing again. Naruto blinked before sitting forwards on the huge throne, the arms alone were large enough for someone to sit on

"...okay then, Gnarl..." Naruto began "exactly what are you and those other...things behind you?" he asked

"We are minions master" Gnarl responded "created by the very first Overlord to aid him in his dark and nefarious plans" it said and Naruto nodded, taking in the information

"Then, explain to me, what, or who, are the Overlords?" he asked and the minion shifted slightly before responding, just as one of the other minions behind in somehow slipped on a smooth piece of stone and went tumbling into a piece of scaffolding, causing it to fall down on top of its head.

"The Overlords are creatures of darkness, master, their blood line was started by the first Overlord, and ever since the Overlords have sort the destruction of the forces of light" it said, saying the word 'light' like it actually caused it pain. Naruto frowned and folded his hands in his lap

"How?" he asked simply, the minion once again shifted before answering

"By gathering an army, dark one, amassing an army of minions and other creatures of the night and then marching out to lay waste to the forces of light" it said. Naruto simply sighed and leaned back

"So in other words I am one of these 'Overlords', and I am to lead an army against the forces of 'light' with the aid of 'dark' forces and bring them to their knees for no particular reason?" he asked the minion in front of him who kind of half nodded

"Pretty much sire, you see, the forces of light have always thought of themselves as being superior to all other races, as such they branded these races as 'evil' and then, during the 'Great Cleansing', wiped out tens of thousands of these creatures" Gnarl explained to Naruto who frowned before sighing

"Very well then, since I'm here, why don't you show me around Gnarl?" he said, the minion nodded

"Very well sire, I shall explain more as we go along" it said before shuffling of with Naruto behind it.

"We minions, as I already said, were created by the first Overlord" Gnarl explained as they descended some more stairs only to emerge onto another floor, only this one was a long corridor with rooms branching off on either side

"This is the servants quarters and the kitchen sire" Gnarl explained to him as they walked through it slowly, giving Naruto ample time to look and observe. "But as I was saying sire, there are four types of minion" he said as the passed the kitchen, looking in quickly Naruto saw that much of the equipment that must of once resided in there was now gone.

"Browns like the one's upstairs are your main force, they can take quite a bit of damage and are surprisingly strong, next is the blues, who can heal and use magic, then comes the reds, who are immune to fire and can throw it at their enemies, then finally we have the greens, they reek but are the assassins, easily sneaking up behind people to slit their throats" Gnarl continued to explain as they walked down still further to another floor

"The General quarters sire, for those who will aid you in leading your armies, or for guests" it said as they moved through again. This floor had fewer rooms but each one was much more luxurious than the ones upstairs, or at least they should be.

"When the last Overlord was killed, a few hundred years ago, we minions were scattered, some of us remained to wait for our next lord but many hid themselves in the world for fear of discovery. Those hives need to be recovered if we are to have much hope of winning any sort of battle against those accursed fools" Gnarl said as they descended to yet another floor

"This is where the armoury and treasury is sire" Gnarl said as they quickly moved through, there was no gold behind the massive treasury door, but armour and weapons were still present in the armoury.

"Do you know where they went?" Naruto asked and Gnarl shook his head

"No sire, however when they sense you nearby they will most likely seek you out by themselves" he explained

"Why is everything so bare here Gnarl?" Naruto asked at last, tired of seeing only stone

"When the last Overlord was killed, looters took much of what was in the tower, anything that wasn't secured magically to the tower they took, the three main smelters, the gold, everything" he said, waving his bony arm around as if to emphasise his point. Then they came to something, it was a kind of stone circle, only it was slightly raised and surrounded by strange symbols carved into its surface

"This is a Cullis gate master, used to teleport almost instantly to a location, there is one in the throne room and on the floor below us, the one below us only goes to the throne room and is the only way up there, this one will take us down to the area below the tower" Gnarl explained to Naruto who just nodded to show he understood before walking onto the platform.

There was a strange sensation, as if his whole body was tingling, though it was not quite unpleasant it was not exactly agreeable either. And suddenly he found himself looking at some great workshop.

It was built into a large cavern; the areas where the smelters had once sat were pretty clear to see as great empty spaces in the room.

"As you can see sire" Gnarl said, motioning around the room as he did so "without the smelters we can't make any new armour or weapons, either for the minions or for your own dark self, but without the reds to run the smelters even if we did have them they'd be useless to us" he told Naruto before they moved on.

They went down again, down some rather steep and slippery steps behind an ornate stone door with carvings of minions all over it. Once inside Naruto was slightly astonished. The cavern was huge, stretching far away, much farther than the edge of the tower.

"Wow" was all Naruto could say to the sheer size of the cavern before them. Gnarl drew his attention to the areas that the minions inhabited and Naruto was again surprised to see the variety of environments. The browns hive sat in a rocky area with nothing to special about it save for its dryness, the area the red hive was meant to sit hand lava and was scorching hot, the blues was damp and water filled, and finally the greens was filled with what looked like jungle vegetation.

"Certain looks impressive" Naruto muttered, Gnarl nodded

"Yes indeed, beyond this place however, sitting below this cavern and vast cave system, sits your family crypt, ghosts wonder in there, and not all of them are from your family" Gnarl said, and Naruto made a mental note to avoid that area like the plague for now.

He sat down on the throne again and, now that he was no longer worried about being attacked from every angle, took a slow look around the chamber. Directly in front of him, down the long hallway, he could see the sky as a balcony sat behind what he had first assumed to be a simple pool of clear water, however he'd realised that it was, in fact, the third Cullis gate in the tower, and that rainwater had simply gathered in there after the storm a few days ago. To his left a hole in the wall sat, allowing him an unobstructed view of the sky beyond the tower, the few smattering of clouds on the sky's azure surface were faint and wispy, providing no evidence of the storm that had passed only a couple of nights beforehand.

The hall itself, now that he looked properly, was once magnificent, with statues of warriors and the like lining not just the walls, but also each pillar. And then each pillar would have reached high to touch the ceiling that was vaulted high above them. The whole ordeal was to inspire awe and, Naruto suspected, fear into whoever approached the throne of the dark one.

The few pillars that had survived held only faint impressions of the gold leaf that had once lined their surfaces at the top and bottom joints, the scratch marks along them all the evidence Naruto needed that someone had scrapped most of it off, one of the pillars still had a banner pole attached, though now only tattered rags were attached to it, the colour having long since been washed away.

The air in the hall was crisp and clean, thanks mainly in part to the many holes in the walls. Naruto had looked at the edges of a few of them and found that in some areas the rock had actually been melted and deformed. He has shivered at the thought of such power simply being thrown around like it was water.

He was sitting on the throne while facing Gnarl, a great many things needed to be done in order to achieve their ultimate goal

"Sire, before we even think about going out there and finding our allies, I'm afraid that your combat skills will need to be vastly improved and you will have to learn at least some basic magic's, though unfortunately I have extremely limited knowledge in that regard, and we are also missing the Tower Heart, the seat of the Overlords limitless mana reserves" he told Naruto who was listening calmly

"I'm all for getting stronger, however I must ask precisely how you plan on teaching me these things Gnarl" Naruto said as he stood and began to walk the length of the hall, towards the balcony on the far side

"Since I am fairly sure none of the minions know any specific styles of fighting, especially something that would benefit me" he continued as he reached the far end and put his arms on the balcony's rail and leaning on it while gazing towards the horizon and at the thick forest that surrounded the tower from all sides. The sun was beginning to set now, setting the sky alight with bright oranges that seemed to make the few wispy clouds look like faintly burning embers.

"That problem can be easily remedied sire, your home village has many...scrolls on fighting and such does it not?" Gnarl responded and Naruto hummed in thought

"Indeed it does Gnarl, but you know very well I would not trust the browns to be smart enough to get in there, get the scrolls, and get out, all without being detected" Naruto explained to the head minion who looked thoughtful for a moment. A soft breeze suddenly sprung up and Naruto sighed and leant his head back as the cool breeze seemed to caress his face

"Then perhaps you should guide them sire" Gnarl said at length, Naruto opened his eyes slowly before looking down at Gnarl

"In my old apartment, the one I burned down, there should be a lockbox, with a rather large lock attached to it, in there are scrolls I have found, begged, borrowed or stole over the years" Naruto told the minion master

"How sire?" the minion asked, looking slightly confused and bewildered

"A few years ago, after another attack on my life, an elite ninja in my village made himself known to me, he taught me a great many things, ranging from survival and cooking to armed and unarmed combat, he subsequently died on a suicide mission that he volunteered for" Naruto explained to the minion master

"Hmm" Gnarl responded, looking thoughtful

"So, tell the minions to go to the rubble of my apartment and find this lockbox and bring it to me, then we can begin the training. It's on the outskirts of the town so there shouldn't be any problem, even for that bunch, and their small enough to not show up on the barrier scanner they have" Naruto told the minion master who nodded before bowing

"At once sire" it said before walking off while shouting at the other minions. Naruto turned back over to the view and looked out towards the horizon, where the town of Konoha could just barely be seen against the setting sun. Naruto welcomed the coming night, closing his eyes as if to feel the encroaching darkness as he heard a small number of minions running around behind him as they 'suited up' for their mission.

When his eyes opened once again they were colder and more focused, something pulsed in his veins, like a desire to run and to hunt. He suppressed it, a habit of his from Konoha, when the night offered both safety and freedom to him.

"The minions are ready sire" Gnarl said from behind him, he got the subtle impression the minion master was bowing slightly

"Very good Gnarl, send them on their way and make it clear they should not be seen. When they return I believe we should start planning" Naruto said to the minion "but for now" he continued, sighing softly "I would like to have some time to myself" he said, the minion master seemed to nod, the rustling of the cloak that surrounded the creature all in information Naruto needed before it hobbled off, staff tapping rhythmically against the cool stone floor.

Naruto took a moment to slow his racing mind before beginning to think. He had been given something many people spent their entire lives to gain, an army of loyal followers, a small army at the moment admittedly, but nevertheless it was better than nothing. He wondered briefly about his future in this place. Gnarl had informed them that there had been a good many other Overlords before himself, but only perhaps three had truly successfully won against the forces of light, and claimed domination over the entire world and all races bound within it.

The first overlord had succeeded, only to be killed in old age. The second had grown overconfident and had been killed by his own slaves, and finally the last one had done very well. Alas he had died of the one thing not even the most powerful mage can hold back, time. He had died and, with no one fit to replace him, the empire he had built had fallen into chaos and disorder.

But that was long gone now. He was the first in almost two hundred years; the minions had slept during that time. Naruto shook his head slowly, scattering those thoughts back into the foggy recesses of his brain. He focused instead on the immediate future and of the difficulties and trials it presented him with.

The minions sent to retrieve the lockbox arrived back at the tower, via a Cullis gate located, apparently, deep within the forest of death. Naruto had been standing by his throne when they'd arrived, two carrying it between them. The box was quite something, wooden but lined with metal internally it was secured with a large padlock that Naruto knew even the most skill ninja's found hard to crack. The wood itself was dark and onto it carvings of two dragons engaged in some epic battle were placed on the lid. Naruto turned to it

"Good work, place it in front of me" Naruto said, pointing to a spot in front of him. He was well aware that while the minions were highly durable and capable in a fight, their common sense and general intelligence left something to be desired.

They placed the, rather heavy, lockbox down on the ground in front of Naruto carefully, not willing to risk Naruto's wrath just yet. Naruto took a key out from around his neck where it had hung on a chain, and opened to lock. I fell off with a loud thunk and Naruto flipped the lid open. Inside lay over a dozen scrolls, each quite sizeable and filled with, not techniques, but physical training methods from armed to unarmed.

Naruto looked at the box for a time before shutting it once again

"Good, they are all here and the wax seals are fully intact, so at least the fire did not damage them. Then, Gnarl, I suggest we get to planning this campaign of ours, the best we can at the moment at any rate" Naruto told the aging minion who seemed to be quite eager at this prospect of finally planning something 'evil' as he would say.

The other minions were cleared out with a single hand motion by Naruto leaving him and the old minion alone to talk.

"Well then Gnarl, since you are well versed in this type of thing maybe you should tell me what you think" Naruto said while motioning for the minion to speak as he settled on his throne, sighing as he did so, leaning forwards with his elbows on his knees and one hand under his chin as he watched the minion take a breath before speaking

"Sire, at this moment in time you are not strong enough to face even half the creatures you may end up facing when we begin, I do not know about your mind and tactical ability but we can easily rectify that if it turns out to be a problem" Gnarl told Naruto who nodded

"While I agree with that completely Gnarl, my concerns lay more on exactly what it is we will be doing once my 'training' is complete" he said, leaning back against the throne, the cold stone sending small shivers down his back.

"Well sire, the first order of business I should imagine will be the restoration of the tower, including getting back the tower heart and our three smelters" Gnarl said, Naruto was watching the minion, his eyes slightly glassy as thoughts ran a mile a minute behind them

"And how exactly do you plan on finding these items that could be anywhere between here and the far western sea" Naruto said, his voice was even with a touch of humour to lighten it

"The tower heart pulses with magical energy even after all these years, it will react to your presence and so you should be able to find it with relative ease once your grip of magic is good enough, the smelters also use magic, but there's no guarantee that they'll be anywhere near here" Gnarl admitted, Naruto sighed before standing slowly

"Well, something to worry about later, first things first then" he said before turned around and walking back up the stairs

"I will see you tomorrow Gnarl" he said as he ascended the stairs

"Goodnight sire" he heard Gnarl's voice as he went to bed.

THE END

This is the second 1st story chapter I've posted, please don't forget to look at the other two and tell me what you think.

Oh, and please Read and Review.


End file.
